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Nuremberg – with mum-nach


NUREMBERG

Nuremberg – with this metropolis in Middle Franconia one connects emperors and middle ages, talented renaissance artists and the Christkindlesmarkt. But also the Reich Party Rally Grounds as a stronghold of the Third Reich and the Nuremberg Trials. Nuremberg is very versatile and there is history on every corner.

Then and now

Today Nuremberg, with over half a million inhabitants, is the second largest city in Bavaria. The metropolis has experienced many glittering highlights in its over 1000-year history, but also went through very dark times. To get to know the city in all its facets, you need more than just a day. A small city tour with the most important sights of Nuremberg is also possible with a short trip.

View from the Henkersteg onto the Maxbrücke

From the train station to achieve great

Our tour starts right at the exit to the old town on the craft market, leads through narrow streets on the main market and on to the castle. Then we turn west to the Ketten- and Henkersteig, and finally finish at Cinecitta, one of the largest multiplex cinemas in Europe, past the craft market. For photos, the tour is perfect, on the track are some of the most popular motifs of the old town. And if you still want to have a sightseeing tour in the big yellow double-decker bus: perfect!

Albrecht-Dürer-Straße at the Tiergärtnertor below the Kaiserburg

Handwerkerhof

Protected behind thick, historic walls in the city center is the former military courtyard of the imperial city of Nuremberg. If you enter the craftsmen’s court, you dive into another world. A world that seems to have sprung from a dollhouse with its tiny streets and half-timbered houses.

Tucked away in the narrowest of places, hidden between the main train station and the tourist office, you will not only meet tourists from all over the world, but also locals who will be charmed by this “little town” within the old town. Here there are pewterers, potters, glass grinders, goldsmiths, glass painters, doll makers and gingerbread bakers, who have settled here in the half-timbered houses.

Half-timbered houses in Handwerkerhof Nuremberg

What looks so dreamily historical, is just delusion. The Handwerkerhof has been around for about 50 years. To mark the drought year of 1971, the city of Nuremberg sought to round off the birthday program of its famous son Albrecht Dürer an additional attraction for visitors from all over the world. The renowned trade fair company AFAG took on the challenge and within a very short time created a small artisan city with a modest budget of only 800,000 DM in the middle of the old city walls.

And although it was originally planned to demolish the Handwerkerhof after the Albrecht Dürer year, the city of Nuremberg decided to preserve this endearing facility and attraction.

opening hours

  • Monday to Friday: 10:00 to 18:30
  • Saturday: 10:00 to 16:00
  • Restaurants: Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 22:00

When we leave the Handwerkerhof, we keep left on Königsstraße. We follow the course of the Königsstraße, pass the museum bridge over the Pegnitz and reach the main market.

main market

Central square in the old town of Nuremberg is the main market. Not only the famous Christkindlesmarkt and Germany’s largest flea market, the Trempelmarkt, take place here on a stately 5,000 square meters. If the main market is not attracting visitors by another event, market women are offering their goods on weekdays. The oldest and most attractive buildings on the square are the Frauenkirche and the Schöne Brunnen.

Rear of the Old Town Hall at the Hauptmarkt

Over the centuries, the square has undergone a turbulent history. Until the middle of the 14th century, the area around the main market of Nuremberg’s Jewish quarter was. At that time, a synagogue stood on the site of the Frauenkirche. In the early years of the Middle Ages was on the once marshy terrain, the riverbed of the Pegnitz.

Before long, the main market was one thing above all: trading place. In 1933, the National Socialists renamed the Hauptmarkt “Adolf-Hitler-Platz”. After the end of World War II, the American forces held their winning parade there and renamed it “Iron Mike Place” at short notice. But just a few days later the Hauptmarkt got its old name back.

woman Church

On the front of the main market is the Frauenkirche. Every day at 12:00 clock “Männleinlaufen” is always admired by a large crowd of visitors. It is the spectacle of the art clock on the gable. The seven electors pay homage to Emperor Charles IV in memory of the decree of the Golden Bull in 1356.

At 12 o’clock in the art clock of the Frauenkirche the male running takes place

Beautiful fountain – turning ring and fulfilling wishes

The beautiful fountain dates back to the 14th century and grows out of its octagonal basin like a Gothic spire. 40 figures represent the world view of the Holy Roman Empire. On the southwest side you will find the famous gold ring in the lattice. According to a legend, this ring was made by a blacksmith, who in vain stopped for the hand of his master’s daughter. In order to prove his abilities, he made the ring one night and put it in the lattice of the well without any seams.

It is said that you have to turn the gold ring three times and an unfulfilled wish for a child come true. Of course, other wishes are welcome.

We leave the main market from the beautiful fountain uphill. If you stand with your back to the Frauenkirche, you simply turn right.

Old Town Hall

At the Rathausplatz we meet the old town hall. Its impressive façade almost looks like an Italian palazzo. Even today, the fate of the city is discussed here. In the basement vaults of the town hall are the legendary medieval hole prisons. Twelve small cells and a torture chamber served from the 14th century to detain prisoners and to confess to the execution of the sentence. For visitors to the city of Nuremberg, guided tours regularly take place in the hole prisons.

Old town hall with pompous city hall hall and hole prisons in the cellar vault

Sebalduskirche

In addition to St. Lawrence and the Frauenkirche, Sebalduskirche is one of Nuremberg’s three main churches. The special features of St. Sebald include not only the extraordinary architectural style and the high-level art treasures. Here are the relics of a Catholic saint in a Protestant-Lutheran church: The Nuremberg patron saint St. Sebald has his final resting place in a beautiful shrine, which was created by the Nuremberg sculptor and redsmith Peter Vischer.

We go once around the Sebalduskirche and land again at the town hall square. At the end of the castle road goes to the left of the Mount of Olives, on which the built on sandstone cliffs Kaiserburg enthroned.

Kaiserburg Nuremberg

The Kaiserburg is known as Nuremberg’s landmark beyond the city limits. Since the Middle Ages her silhouette represents the power of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. It is the symbol of the outstanding position of the imperial city of Nuremberg and is first documented in 1050 as Königsgut.

The Kaiserburg Nuremberg towers 50 meters above the old town on a sandstone cliff. Although the castle looks remotely like a closed system, but in fact are complexes that are separated by gates and walls.

Kaiserburg Nuremberg at sunrise © Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung, Photo: Michaela Trapp

Info

Kaiserburg Nuremberg

Opening hours:

  • April to September: 9 am to 6 pm daily
  • October to March: daily 10-16 clock
  • Last admission: 30 minutes before the end of the opening time

Tiergärtnertor

If you want, you can treat yourself to a little peace in the Burggarten on the west side of the fortress. After you have enjoyed the view over Nuremberg, it goes to the exit of the castle garden at the western end of the oil road.

Immediately right, a narrow, steep staircase leads down to Tiergärtnertorplatz. The Tiergärtnertor is part of the old city wall and takes its name from the game reserve of a former burgrave in the nearby moat. We keep left and go left at the Albrecht Dürer House down the Albrecht-Dürer-Gasse. After a few stone steps we reach the wine market and turn right into the Weißgerbergasse.

Weißgerbergasse – Fachwerk, wherever you look

A particularly popular photo opportunity for visitors to the city of Nuremberg is the Weißgerbergasse. If you stroll through the romantic alley of the Old Town of Sebald, you can admire the 20 craft houses – mostly in half-timbered construction – and get an excellent insight into the architecture of earlier centuries. Today, the Weißgerbergasse is a popular pub district.

Popular postcard motif: the Weißgerbergasse in Nuremberg

Kettensteg

At the end of the Weißgerbergasse we cross the street (Maxplatz / Hallertor) and continue straight ahead. From here you can already see the Kettensteg. The Kettensteg in Nuremberg’s Old Town was the first free-floating river bridge in Germany, which is only hanging on chains and is supported in the middle on an island. The suspension bridge is 80 meters long and was built in 1824. A total of 423 wooden planks lead pedestrians and cyclists across the Pegnitz to the other bank. Thanks to a large-scale donation campaign, the Kettensteg can swing again after its renovation in 2010.

Kettensteg over the Pegnitz with Schlayerturm

At the end of the Kettensteg we keep left and go between Unterer Kreuzgasse and Pegnitz direction Maxbrücke. If you take a look to the right, you will find some new buildings from the 90s on Kaspar-Hauser-Platz. We continue straight ahead at the Maxbrücke and leave the Unschlittplatz behind us on the right until we reach a wooden footbridge over the Pegnitz on the left.

View from the Kettensteg over the Pegnitz to the Maxbrücke

Henkersteg

Nuremberg’s old town once consisted of two separate city fortifications. To unite the Lorenzer and Sebalder parts of the Old Town over the Pegnitz, a bridge over the southern Pegnitzarm was built in the 14th century: the present Henkerssteg. This unusual name is due to the executioner’s apartment. Since the profession of executioner was not honorable even then, this was relocated to the remote Pegnitzinsel (flea market island). If the hangman had to carry out his duties, he strode over the hangman’s walk from his island to the place of execution.

Holy Spirit Hospital

At the end of the Henkersteg lies the Pegnitzinsel, on which today the shops are located at the flea market. We leave the island over the next bridge to the right and follow the Kaiserstraße to Königsstraße. On the left is the museum bridge. Directly in front of the museum bridge, a path leads to the right along the Pegnitz (Pfarrgasse). Opposite is the Holy Spirit Hospital. Founded in 1339, the Holy Spirit Hospital was once the largest urban facility for the care of the sick and elderly. Partly the hospital was built over the bed of the Pegnitz.

Heilig-Geist-Spital at the Museumsbrücke

Traditional restaurants and scene pubs

On the southern bank of the Pegnitz there is a whole row of cafés, bistros and bars. From the trendy Café, jump over the Red Bar and the pub O’Sheas in ancient vaults. Directly in the side streets of the main market in the direction of the castle, traditional bratwurst restaurants line up. No matter what you are looking for, you will certainly find something in Nuremberg.

At the Gewerbemuseum square, we will find the Cinecitta multiplex cinema on the left and the city library and the Gewerbemuseum on the right. At the Gewerbemuseum we keep to the right on Marientorgraben and follow the road back to the Tourist Information Center opposite the Handwerkerhof.

Today the education center is located in the former Gewerbemuseum

Conclusion

The fact that Nuremberg is one of Germany’s oldest cities is reflected above all in its old town. In the narrow streets and on the wide squares of the city center, a colorful mixture of traditional half-timbered houses, chic Gothic churches, patrician houses and post-war buildings alternate.

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Christina Cherry
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